Taake era comes to an end with 34-7 loss to Wisconsin Dells
Mauston coach Mike Taake talks to quarterback Tyler Tardiff earlier this season.
By David Paradise
Star-Times Sports Editor
Mauston's football team took the field on Thursday night for their match-up with South Central Conference (SCC) rival Wisconsin Dells, in a win or go home situation.
Both the Golden Eagles and the Chiefs needed a win in the regular season finale to keep their season's alive, Mauston was also looking to keep coach Mike Taake on the sidelines for at least one more game.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, the Chiefs were able to win the battle of field position in the first half en route to building a 34-0 halftime lead.
"We weren't blocking very well and tackling very well," Taake said. The Golden Eagles offense seemed out-of-sync for much of the half, and the defense couldn't seem to get off the field on third down. "We couldn't get anything going on offense. We had some dropped passes that could've kept drives alive. It wasn't our best game," Taake said.
After forcing the Dells to punt on their first possession, Mauston offense had a quick three and out. The defense forced another punt, and the offense tried to go back to work. Mauston was able to pick up a first down on their next possession, on a fake punt, by Jake Weiland, but a penalty stalled the drive and the Golden Eagles were forced to punt.
It was all Chiefs after that. Wisconsin Dells was able to score on their next five possessions, and forced four Mauston punts and a big stop on a fourth down with the Golden Eagles threatening midway through the second, to take a 34-0 lead into halftime.
The Mauston offense switched things up in the second half, going to a single wing formation. The change helped the Golden Eagles move the ball down the field behind runs from Pat Guyse and Brady Nelson, Weiland, along with passes from Nelson to Tyler Tardiff.
A scoreless third quarter came to an end with Nelson hooking up with Tardiff for a long pass down the sideline that gave Mauston the ball inside the Dells 10-yard line.
The Golden Eagles were able to get onto the board three plays later, when Guyse found the endzone from seven yards out, the extra point made it 34-7.
Following a three and out by the Chiefs, Mauston looked to get back into the endzone, but a fumble ended the drive and the Chiefs ran out the clock and ended the Golden Eagles season.
"Out senior leadership was tremendous, especially our three captains (Jimmy Krus, Pat Guyse and Tyler Tardiff). This is probably one of the most mature and best led teams I have coached. Their coachability was just awesome," Taake said.
Mauston was led by Guyse with 73 yards and a score on 19 carries. Nelson finished with three completions for 64 yards all of them going to Tardiff.
The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 4-5 overall record, including a 2-3 mark in the SCC.